My first job as a physician, with the Indian Health Service in Kayenta, Arizona, changed my life and the path of my career in medicine. I watched a beautiful and ancient people go from almost complete absence of chronic preventable illness to epidemics of Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, Heart Disease, and other scourges of our modern western culture. It could not have been more clearly shown to me: most chronic illnesses and symptoms are strongly related to lifestyle choices and experience. 

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And even worse than witnessing the devastation of these preventable diseases, I also saw that at that time there was little  talk of the connection between these illnesses and their causes. I couldn't help but wonder whether these terrible diseases could be stopped in their tracks if only these patients could be educated and empowered about the health that was actually within their control. 

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So I changed my path in medicine to learn all I could and be an ambassador of Prevention.. 

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I completed a residency in Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health, and then I completed a two year on-the-job training as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention. I became Board Certified in Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and later in Family Practice.

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Since then, I have used my Preventive Medicine mindset and training in every aspect of my career as I sought out new ways to help my patients over the years. Fascinated by the vast evidence-based but hidden uses of nutritional and integrated approaches to medicine, I sought learning from the experts and brought my knowledge into integrative and functional practice with my patients, for 9 years in private practice and then 10 years as Medical Director for a University Health and Wellness Center. I became board certified in Integrative and Holistic Medicine, and I eventually studied with and became a certified practitioner through the Institute for Functional Medicine. 

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I'm a 2nd generation D.O..  Amazingly, through my studies, I realized that the basic tenets of Functional Medicine were actually almost identical to those of Osteopathy! The body is one organism, and everything within that organism is interconnected. Everything effects everything else. The body needs to be treated as a whole. And, maybe most important, is that given the right tools, the body has the innate ability to heal itself. 

 

So if everything in the body effects everything else, and the body is one whole complicated and integrated living organism, how can we help our patients really turn their health issues around from the inside out and bottom up? When their health is 'in the weeds', as we say, how do we help our patients get their health back? We need to go deep and complete. Address as much as we can all at once. Starting at the molecular and cellular levels. This is not something that can be done in a series of short, fee-for-service patient encounters. 

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To make change, people need education and support. These things take time and organization. In a busy practice, this means that some things need to be automated. Taught in classes. Taught online. Taught in group visits. Taught through written materials. Organization also means that protocols that give the doctor and the staff a structure can ensure that things are being done in a comprehensive manner, in the right way, in the right order, with plenty of flexibility to tailor things so that they fit each patient exactly right. 

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In 2015, my colleague and friend, Dr. Mona Tara and I took a big risk and left conventional medical practice to develop a new model of care. We created a membership-style model of practice that took patients through a 12 to 24-week 'bootcamp' for their bodies. 

 

Wow. 

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Fast forward: I spent the last 8 years working exclusively with almost 600 patients using a Functional (root-cause) Medicine model developed to empower patients with the skills and changes they need to improve their chronic illnesses, symptoms, and health outcomes. I went from a practice that was predominantly frustrating, to a practice that I loved. Because my patients were making positive change, feeling better, and turning around their chronic diseases and long-term symptoms.

My patients were actually turning their health around!!  I've also witnessed thousands of patients going through similar types of programs with their practitioners and the reports are almost always the same: happier, healthier, more vibrant patients, and happier, more satisfied practitioners and their teams!

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It was such a game-changer for my patients and for my practice that I have made it my mission to make it easy for other practitioners to adopt a similar model in their practices.

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It is time for the healthcare paradigm in America to change. It is time for clinicians to feel empowered to help their patients learn and adopt tools to prevent, slow, stop or reverse the 80% of chronic health issues that are food and lifestyle related. It is time for clinicians to help their patients choose empowered prevention, rather than the passive 'wait till the numbers/symptoms get really bad and then get help' approach into which so many Americans have slid. 

 

When I realized this several years ago, there were very few resources, and we needed to start basically from scratch. I don't know if I'd have the time or energy to do that again. And I know most practicing clinicians are so stretched for time and bandwidth that they can't even consider putting in the effort to get their practices where they want them to go.

 

That's why I've created The Functional Medicine Project to be a one-stop-shop resource for practitioners who are ready to help their patients with a Preventive, Root-Cause approach that works.

 

First, I've created a no-nonsense educational program, The Elevate Your Impact Immersion, to get any practitioner up and running with strong Functional Medicine skills. And, I've modified the patient bootcamp, The Total Health Reset, so that it can be adopted into any office setting. 

I invite you to be a part of the Paradigm Change that is just now beginning to happen in our Health Care System! Let's fix what's broken, become the educators and health promoters that many of us dreamed of when we first started training, and let's help our patients to help themselves live more vibrant, healthy lives!!

 

I would love to talk with you more about this and learn more about you! Let's connect through a Virtual Chat!